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31st Air Division
The 31st Air Division (31st AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to Tenth Air Force, being stationed at Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa. It was inactivated on 31 December 1969. History Assigned to Air Defense Command (ADC) for most of its existence, the division equipped, administered, trained, and provided combat ready forces within an area covering North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and other parts of the Midwest. The division participated in numerous live and simulated exercises such as Creek Chief, Pawnee Knife, and Mandan Hunt Later, beginning in 1966, the 31st assumed responsibility for the former Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector and covered an area including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Assumed additional designation of 31st NORAD Region after activation of the NORAD Combat Operations Center at Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado and reporting was transferred to NORAD from ADC at Ent AFB in April 1966. Inactivated in December 1969 as ADC phased down its interceptor mission as the chances of a Soviet bomber attack on the United States seemed remote, its mission being consolidated into North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Lineage * Established as 31 Air Division (Defense) on 7 September 1950 : Activated on 8 October 1950 : Inactivated on 1 February 1952 * Organized on 1 February 1952 : Inactivated on 1 January 1960 * Redesignated 31st NORAD Region/Air Division, and activated, on 20 January 1966 : Organized on 1 April 1966, replacing Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector : Inactivated on 31 December 1969. Assignments * Air Defense Command : Eastern Air Defense Force, 8 October 1950 :: Attached 30 Air Division [Defense], 27 November 1950 – 1 February 1951 : Central Air Defense Force, 20 May 1951 – 1 January 1960 * Air Defense Command, 20 January 1966 : Fourteenth Air Force, 1 April 1966 – 1 July 1968 (ConAC) : Tenth Air Force, 1 July 1968 – 31 December 1969. Stations * Selfridge AFB, Michigan, 8 October 1950 – 1 February 1952 * Fort Snelling (later, Snelling AFS), Minnesota, 1 February 1952 – 1 January 1960 * Oklahoma City AFS, Oklahoma, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1969. Components Sectors * Duluth Air Defense Sector: 20 December 1957 – 1 January 1959 : Duluth Airport, Minnesota * Grand Forks Air Defense Sector: 8 December 1957 – 1 January 1959 : Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota Groups * 521st Air Defense Group: 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955. : Redesignated: 53d Fighter Group: 18 August 1955 – 1 March 1956 : Sioux City MAP, Iowa * 515th Air Defense Group: 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955 : Redesignated: 343d Fighter Group: 18 August 1955 – 1 January 1959 : Duluth MAP, Minnesota * 514th Air Defense Group: 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955 : Re-designated: 475th Fighter Group: 18 August 1955 – 2 January 1958 : Minneapolis-Saint Paul MAP, Minnesota * 478th Fighter Group: 8 February 1957 – 1 January 1959 : Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota Interceptor squadrons * 11th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 December 1952 – 16 February 1953 : Duluth MAP, Minnesota * 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 December 1952 – 16 February 1953 : Minneapolis-Saint Paul MAP, Minnesota * 54th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 December 1952 – 16 February 1953 : Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota * 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 November 1952 – 16 February 1953 : Sioux City Apt, Iowa * 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 April 1966 – 1 March 1967 : Webb AFB, Texas * 432d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 December 1952 – 16 February 1953 : Truax Field, Wisconsin * 433d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 November 1952 – 16 February 1953 : Truax Field, Wisconsin Radar squadrons * 650th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Dallas Center AFS, Iowa, 1 July 1955 – 1 March 1956 * 676th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Antigo AFS, Wisconsin, 6 February 1952 – 16 February 1953 * 683d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Sweetwater AFS, Texas, 1 April 1966 – 30 September 1969 * 687th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : West Mesa AFS, New Mexico, 1 April 1966 – 8 September 1968 * 688th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Amarillo AFB, Texas, 1 April 1966 – 8 September 1968 * 692d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Baudette AFS, Minnesota, 1 October 1958 – 1 January 1959 * 703d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Texarkana AFS, Arkansas, 1 April 1966 – 8 September 1968 * 707th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Grand Rapids AFS, Minnesota, 1 July 1956 – 1 January 1959 * 739th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Wadena AFS, Minnesota, 1 February 1953 – 1 January 1959 * 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Rapid City AFB, South Dakota, 1–16 February 1953 * 741st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Lackland AFB, Texas, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1969 * 745th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Perrin AFS, Texas, 1 April 1966 – 30 September 1969 * 746th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Oklahoma City AFS, Oklahoma, 1 April 1966 – 8 September 1968 * 756th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Finland AFS, Minnesota, 6 February 1952 – 1 July 1959 * 785th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Finley AFS, North Dakota, 6 February 1952 – 16 February 1953 * 786th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Minot AFS, North Dakota, 6 February 1952 – 16 February 1953 * 787th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Chandler AFS, Minnesota, 6 February 1952 – 1 January 1959 * 788th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Waverly AFS, Iowa, 6 February 1952 – 1 March 1956 * 789th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Omaha AFS, Nebraska, 6 February 1952 – 1 March 1956 * 791st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Hanna City AFS, Illinois, 6 February 1952 – 1 March 1956 * 808th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Rochester AFS, Minnesota, 1 September 1955 – 9 September 1957 * 903d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Gettysburg AFS, South Dakota, 1 March 1956 – 1 January 1959 * 915th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Sioux Lookout AS, Ontario, 16 December 1952 – 1 January 1959 * 916th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Beausejour AS, Manitoba, 1 December 1952 – 1 January 1959 See also * List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations * Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons * List of United States Air Force air divisions References * Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command. * A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado * Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1) * Air Force Historical Research Agency:31st Air Division Category:Aerospace Defense Command units Air 0031